Thursday, May 7, 2015

The last two months of season 3 of Arrow have been an action-packed adventure of ups and downs. With only one episode left in the season, I'm here to bring you a MEGA recap of the past few episodes to lead up to the season finale. My recaps will be brief for each episode, only highlighting the most important aspects that have enhanced the show and helped push the plot to where it stands now on the last episode.

We left off in Episode 15, "Nanda Parbat," with Ra's Al Ghul offering Oliver to be the heir to the Demon Head. Well, Oliver--being the good hero he is--refuses. Fortunately, Ra's lets Oliver, Merlyn, and Diggle go. However, at the end of the episode Ra's dons a green hood to mimic the Arrow and shoots a couple of guys dead, letting some escape to tell everyone that the Arrow is a killer. Again.

(duh-duh-DUN!)

Meanwhile, Nyssa and Laurel bond from their mega daddy issues, and Laurel accepts Nyssa's offer for personal training (the fighting kind). Oh, and Roy and Thea get back together (shocker!)

Lyla and Diggle get married (again/finally). Bad stuff happens immediately after so ARGUS contacts them to go release hostages with Cupid and Deadshot. What a wonderful honeymoon. Of course, not all goes as planned, but they do escape except for Deadshot (by the way, they did flashbacks of his life and it was so good).

Ra's and Co. continue to dress as the Arrow to kill people. The Starling City Police put out warrant for the Arrow's capture, and Mr. Tall, Rich, and Handsome Ray Palmer publicly states his approval of the Arrow's capture. Thus, Ray uses his A.T.O.M. suit to locate the Arrow and learns it's the one and only Oliver Queen.(duh-duh-DUN!)

He gets in a rumble with Oliver and Felicity and Laurel and himself (or maybe it's his suit).Oliver does convince Ray that the Arrow is being framed, but Maseo, dressed as the Arrow, still manages to kill the mayor.

Ra's continues to wreck havoc on Oliver's life. He confronts Oliver and says things will only get worse the longer Oliver puts off accepting the offer demand to be heir. When Oliver still says no, Ra's kidnaps Detective Lance and reveals the identity of the Arrow as Oliver Queen. (RA'S!! *yells like Kirk/Spock yells KHAN*) Filled with rage because of Sara's death--and the prolonging of telling him--Lance announces this revelation in a press conference.

Oliver decides to turn himself in because he thinks it's the only way to save his friends and get Ra's off his back. However, the Arrow team does not agree and they come up with an alternate plan: Roy, dressed as the Arrow, attacks the vehicle transporting Oliver and reveals to the police that he is the real Arrow.

(duh-duh-DUN!)

Meanwhile, Ray has been injured in the last pseudo-Arrow attack and the only thing to save him is his own creation of nanobots. Felicity--against the doctor's instruction--administers the nanobots to Ray and our rich, wannabe hero is saved (darn!).

Roy goes to prison and Oliver is free from police custody, but Detective Lance still continues his vendetta against Oliver. Fortunately the Arrow team is one step ahead, so when Lance busts into the Arrow hideout (bunker? cave) he finds only Roy's fingerprints and none of Oliver's more important tools (or weapons, whichever you prefer). Unfortunately, Roy is getting hit pretty hard (literally and physically) by fellow inmates because Oliver managed to make a lot of enemies over the past few years (imagine that).

Since Lance continues to prowl around for any reason to nab Oliver again, Oliver is forced to lay low. Thus, when an metahuman attacks Starling City, the team goes to Ray for help. Ray gets to show off his ATOM suit once more. Oliver and Ray sync movements in order to fight the metahuman, which is memorably since Oliver reveals to Ray that Ray is a hero too.

Roy fakes his death while in prison (he had me worried for a minute) with the help of ARGUS and leaves Starling City. Thus, Oliver's name is cleared for good and the Arrow is publicly considered dead. However, Oliver's problems have only begun as Ra's visits Thea and mortally wounds her, leaving her for dead in the apartment

(duh-duh-DUN!)

In flashbacks, Oliver learns that the baddies want to release the Alpha-Omega virus in Hong Kong. With the help of Maseo and Tatsu, he steals the virus and plans of release.

Oliver finds Thea bleeding to death and gets her to the hospital. Unfortunately, her injuries are too fatal and the doctors can do nothing to save her. Maseo tells Oliver that if Oliver accepts the offer/demand, Ra's will heal Thea via the Lazarus Pit. Malcom Merlyn advises Oliver that 10/10 villainous fathers would not put his daughter into the Pit (apparently the Pit changes the person's soul. Good luck, Ollie).

Oliver and the team (dragging Merlyn behind them on a metaphorical dog chain) return to Nanda Parbat. Ra's heals Thea (side effects so far: loss of memory and confusion for a short period of time) and Oliver agrees to become the heir to the demon head. Despite this, Felicity--who has left Ray Palmer to follow her true feelings for Oliver--takes matters into her own hands to keep hold of Oliver (after they passionately make love) by knocking him out with a drink and dragging his body down to the catacombs in an attempt to escape unexpectedly (with Diggle's help of course). Unfortunately, Ra's is not stupid and he catches them. At Oliver's plea, the team with Merlyn and Thea are released and Oliver stays behind to begin his training.

Oliver has been going under intense training to become loyal to the League and only the League. This training has all but erased Oliver Queen from his psyche and he now goes by Al Sah-him. In order to complete the training and become true heir of the Demon Head, he must complete two tasks: kill the other person who believes he/she is the heir and to completely wipe out his hometown. Oliver must kill Nyssa and destroy Starling City.

(duh-duh-DUN!)

Oliver--Al Sah-him--returns to Starling City to hunt down Nyssa, but because she is training Laurel (and learning to eat french fries and milkshakes), Laurel catches wind of Oliver's plan and she and Diggle come to her rescue.

Oliver kidnaps Lyla to bribe the Arrow team to give up Nyssa. They agree, only to try to fight their way out of the situation. Nyssa is taken away, Oliver almost kills Diggle, and Thea arrives armed with a bow and threatens to shoot Oliver if he hurts Diggle. Oliver runs back to Nanda Parbat. There, Ra's orders Oliver not to kill Nyssa but to marry her (the horror!!). Oliver is also instructed to use the Alpha-Omega virus to destroy Starling City.

(duh-duh-DUN! again)

In the flashback, Oliver, Maseo, and Tatsu get a vaccine for the virus, but Hong Kong is slowly becoming infected and Maseo and Tatsu's son with it. (*cries*)

Ra's starts the episode off with a bang by revealing to "Oliver" that Maseo gave Ra's the Alpha-Omega virus in order to join the League. (duh-duh-DUN!) This also reveals a not-so-brainwashed-and-grumpy-face Oliver. (Hurrah!) Oliver leaves the fortress to "clear his head," but secretly meets up with the one, the only, Malcolm Merlyn. They are in league together against the League. Oliver's entire plan is a ruse to topple Ra's and his reign from the inside. Oliver instructs Merlyn to go back to Starling City and convince the Arrow team of the truth (and to warn them of the impending virus about to assault the city but minor details).

With the help of Tatsu, Merlyn convinces the Arrow team (and Ray) to return to Nanda Parbat to stop the virus and Ra's. They get there, they fight, there's a lot of action and cool stuff (especially with Tatsu wielding a katana and mask), Felicity hacks the plane set to release the virus, and all is well. Sort of. Tatsu kills Maseo in a fight (NOOOOO!!) and sings to him as he dies the same song she sings to her dying son in the flashbacks (ooww, my heart). And also Ra's set up the plane as a ruse and he still has hold of the virus.

(duh-duh-DUN!)

Meanwhile, Thea visits Roy (or "Jason" as he goes by now), they sleep together, she tells him about Oliver accepting Ra's to save her, and in the morning when Thea wakes up, Roy is gone (typical, typical). He does however leave her a letter to explain he's leaving so she can grow into a capable human being and possibly super hero since he left her the Arsenal hoodie (bye-bye, Roy?).

Ra's locks the Arrow team (and Ray) in a cell and exposes them to the virus. (duh-duh-DUN!) Oliver and Nyssa get married (even though she tried to stab him in the chest with a knife). With their marriage, Oliver is now Ibn al Ghul, Son of the Demon.

Okay, so obviously this season won't end with the entire Arrow team dying in a cell and Oliver turning into Ra's permanently. But how in the world OLIVER ARE YOU GOING TO SAVE YOUR PEOPLE? HOW? Ra's is a dang smart cookie. He'll see something coming. You probably should have let Nyssa stab you and be done with it.

Will we get more of Tatsu as Katana? (Please say yes, please say yes)

Is Roy officially off the show or what?

Is Thea really going to become Arsenal because... ugh...

How is any of this going to be okay?

Will Felicity, Laurel, and Diggle ever trust Oliver again after this?

What is going on with Ray and the ATOM suit? Like that's not how it's supposed to work? He just is like a less cool Ironman. I'm confused. WHERE IS THE ATOM PART OF IT?

Why did you kill Maseo? WHY?

BARRY ALLEN IS GOING TO BE IN THE SEASON FINALE OF ARROW. YEEEAAAAHHH!!!

What are your thoughts on this season of Arrow? And what do you think will happen in the season finale?

P.S. The next episode of The Flash shows a superhero team up with Oliver, Firestorm, and Barry. I'm not sure how that ties into the events of this episode, but I'm excited to find out! Give me all the crossovers please.

P.P.S. There's also this lovely gem of a crossover video, which is both fun and hilarious. It's a must watch for fans of Arrow and The Flash!